Selena Gomez revealed this morning that the reason she has been somewhat less present, both on social media and in public life, during the past few months is that she has been struggling with further complications from lupus. The singer posted to Instagram images of her in the hospital before and after getting a kidney transplant. The donor was actress Francia Raisa, who Gomez describes in the post as her “beautiful friend.” Gomez went public about her Lupus diagnosis in October of 2015, revealing that she had spent time in rehab receiving treatment for the disease. Read Gomez’s full post below.

I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of. So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health. I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you. Until then I want to publicly thank my family and incredible team of doctors for everything they have done for me prior to and post-surgery. And finally, there aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis. Lupus continues to be very misunderstood but progress is being made. For more information regarding Lupus please go to the Lupus Research Alliance website: www.lupusresearch.org/ -by grace through faith

A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Sep 14, 2017 at 3:07am PDT

Winston Cook-Wilson